Strategies and Agents of Community Well-Being

Abstract

Teaching and learning about community requires knowledge of the strategies and agents which contribute to the process of building, maintaining, and transforming communities. This chapter describes these strategies and agents, with a focus on their unique strengths and limitations, and some examples of how they interact with one another. The strategies range from one-on-one individual relationships through service, to community-based strategies via community development and organizing, to the use of research and advocacy expertise, to citizen participation in the political process. Major agents include government, the for-profit and non-profit sectors, individual and collective leadership, and the media.